rrell brown. digging in. despite some signs of a compromise, the white house says it is ready to go over the fiscal cliff. lighting up legally. this morning a law permitting recreational marijuana use goes into effect in washington state. and royal ruse. australia's shop jocks pose as queen elizabeth and prince charles in a prank phone call to the duchess of cambridge's hospital. >> when can you take me to the hospital, charles? >> when can you come down to take her? maybe in the morning or something, if that's okay. captioning funded by cbs >> this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, december 6, 2012.

good morning, everybody. i'm terrell brown. stunning. that's what they hear after the obama administration is ready to go over the fiscal cliff if the gop doesn't bid on higher taxes. on top earners. a just released poll shows nearly half of those ads say it's time to end tax cuts for the wealthy but keep it in place for americans earning $250,000 or less. 32% say the tax cuts should remain in place for everyone. during a broadcast interview yesterday timothy geithner was asked what if republican don't agree to raising taxes. >> is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> oh, absolutely. again, we say there's no prospect for an agreement that doesn't involve those tax rates going up. remember, it's 2%. remember, all of those americans, too, get a tax cut into that framework on the first $250,000 of their income. >> that said the president and speaker john boehner discussed the budget by phone yesterday. susan mcginnis is in washington with the latest on this game of fiscal chicken.

susan, good morning to you. >> right. good morning, terrell. yeah, that phone call does raise the possibility that some serious talks could start soon, but now we learn that a lot of members of congress are heading out on a long weekend, not to return till tuesday. this as the impasse here on capitol hill continues and the nation waits. social security workers marched outside their office in baltimore wednesday. they're protesting the government spending cuts due to kick in at the end of the year as part of the fiscal cliff. >> we don't want to see our public hurt in any way. >> just down the road in washington, d.c., the standoff continues. house speaker john boehner says he's still waiting for president obama to make his next counteroffer to the republican plan he rejected. >> i'm going to need a response from the white house. we can't sit here and negotiate with ourselves. >> the president and boehner spoke on the phone wednesday, but republicans want more. >> we want to sit down with the president. we want to talk specifics.

>> whether the talks happen on the phone or in person, here on capitol hill or at the white house, there will be no deal without a compromise on taxes, something that does not appear likely any time soon. >> an obsession to raise taxes is not going to solve the problem. >> treasury secretary timothy geithner said the white house is absolutely willing to go over the fiscal cliff if the gop doesn't agree to raise taxes on the top 2% of earners. while a handful of republicans appears willing to concede that point, the party's position seems unchangeable. >> speaker boehner took a position i think the day after the campaign that says we're willing to bring in revenue, but we're not willing to increase rates. >> the president says if republicans will concede the point, they could reach a deal within a week. and the presidential business

leaders, if republicans drop that opposition, they could agree -- they could make a deal within a week, as we said but, you know, as we said the impasse continues.- terrell? >> susan, thank you so much. to syria now. cbs has learned that the u.s. has discovered they have prepared chemical weapons that could potentially beused against the opposition. right now there are no indications that any of those chemicals could be fixed on military aircraft. meanwhile the obama administration says essentially countries in the middle east have offered asylum to assad and his family. assad has repeatedly said he will not leave syria. the u.s. said he will be accountable for the battle against the syria people. overnight the political turmoil in egypt has turned deadly. they have been secured to security the presidential palace. state tv says at least five people and supporters were killed when they fought in front of the presidential palace in

cairo. the army used tanks and troops to control the situation. software guru john mcafee spent the night in a guatemalan jail. he was arrested yesterday for entering the country illegally. he said he crossed the border from belize to seek asylum. he's wanted there for questioning in a murder. mcafee had been on the run for weeks. bee good shah bad reports. >> reporter: software innovator john mcafee came to guatemala for asylum but was taken into custody for entering the country illegally. he gave an interview before he was arrested. >> i'm now here and i'm going to speak out and speak out big time. >> reporter: mcafee had been living in belize supported by the millions he made from his software company. police there want to question him in the recent murder of his neighbor. >> well, you know it's a convenient thing for them. next i heard he got killed. now we can do something. we can blame him. >> reporter: mcafee went into hiding but not alone.

>> how many people at the checkpoint. >> he invited journalists from vicecome vice.com along for the ride. that was the tech guru's undoing. he was located through gps data imbedded in the smartphone picture. >> and some of that data depending how the phone is set, is going to include the location where it was taken. >> reporter: belizean officials deny persecuting mcafee. they say there's no warrant for his arrest or restrictions on travel, so it's unclear why he would need to seek asylum in guatemala. back in this country today, same-sex marriage is legal in washington. overnight same-sex couples lined up to get marriage licences. they'll have to wait three days to get married though. last month washington, maine, and maryland became the first states to approve same-sex

marriage by popular vote. also in washington small amounts of marijuana became legal. pot smokers celebrated by the segment space needle. they became the first state to decriminalize the recreational use of pot. adults can have up to one ounce of marijuana, but the law bans public use. the man who allegedly pushed a passenger to his death in front of a subway train in new york has been arraigned. naeem davis was charged with second-degree murder yesterday. he implicated himself in the death of ki suh han. on wednesday han's daughter remembers her dad who comes to the others. >> nigh dad was never not hesitant to help anyone. he was always there for someone if they need help. >> davis is being held without bail. and a memorial service in kansas city for javon belcher, the football player who committed suicide on saturday after killing his girlfriend. the chiefs had an early practice wednesday so his teammates could pay their last respects. they say they wanted to remember

him as a man, not a killer. >> you've got to try to deal with it however you deal with it and grieve, you know, the best way for the individual. and i think the best way for us as a team is to get closure and move on and find some way to focus on football. >> belcher shot 22-year-old kasandra perkins. her funeral will be tomorrow in texas. their 3-month-old daughter will get more than $1 million from the nfl collective bargaining agreement. we'll take a quick break on a thurps morning. >> when we come back cutting breast cancer deaths. how a long term use of a drug can have benefits for patients. this is the "cbs morning news." news."

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elaine quijano reports. >> she was nervous when she finally went off the drug. >> all of a sudden you're done and it's very scary. it's very scary because you have to then go back and you really you have nothing protecting you from the medical standpoint anymore. >> reporter: capasello was 33 when she was diagnosed. estrogen is the main fuel for breast cancer in younger women who have not gone through menopause. tamoxifen works by blocking the effect of estrogen. it works by having the women take it for five years because previous study showed no benefit for taking it longer. but the new study funded partly by one of the makers of tamoxifen for ten years were 25% less likely to have a recurrence of breast cancer and 29% less likely to die from the disease than those who took it for five. dr. judy gash ber is with

boston's dana farber cancer institute. >> i think this will have an effect on practice, and particularly for my young patients. i think they'll feel much safer for all of us. >> reporter: but there are significant side effects. most women have immediate effects of menopause including night sweats and hot flashes. still she says if her doctor recommends it, she'll take it again. >> recurrence is something you live with all of your life. all of a sudden you hear all these stories about women's cancer coming back after eight, nine, ten years, so it doesn't go away, no. tamoxifen has other side effects including risk of uterine cancer strokes, and blood clots. but researches say for younger breast cancer survivors, those risks are outweighed by the drug's benefit. elaine quijano, cbs, new york.

coming up next, your thursday weather and the hit song "gangnam style" hanging on big time. we'll be right back. anging on big time. we'll be right back. made a commitment to the gulf. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. capella university understands businesses are trying to come back from rough economic times. employees are being forced to do more with less. and the need for capable leaders is greater than ever. when you see these problems do you take a step back, or do you want to dive right in? with a degree in business from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to go further in your career than you ever thought possible.

let's get started at capella.edu [ male announcer ] for the first time nexxus salon hair care combats 8 signs of aging hair. unveiling 2013, new nexxus youth renewal elixir. go online for your complimentary bottle before it hits stores in january. here's a look at the weather in some cities around the country. mostly cloud inny chicago, 45. mostly sunny in dallas. 70 degrees. clouds and sunday in l.a., 70 degrees. let's check your national forecast. look for more rain and snow

showers in the northwest. up to 8 inches of snow is possible in some mountain areas. a weak storm system pushes through the great lakes region bringing a wintry mix of ice, snow, and rain. it will be dry and cool in the northeast and mostly dry in the south. "cbs moneywatch" time now on a thursday. citigroup slashes jobs and ""gangnam style"" is riding off with some big bucks. ashley morrison here in new york with more on that. good morning to you. >> good morning to you. tokyo's nikkei gained 1% to a seven-month closing high while hong kong's hang seng lost a fraction. the cautious optimism of reaching a budget deal sent blue chips higher. the dow added 82 points while the nasdaq was down nearly 23. shares of citigroup rose 6% after the bank announced it is cutting 11,000 jobs. the layoffs represent about 4% of citi's work-force and will be felt worldwide. no word on how many jobs in the u.s. will be lost. darden restaurants is

backing away from its plans to limit health care costs. darden who owns olive garden and remember lobster was planning to bump full-time workers down to part-time status to avoid costs associated with president obama's health care law, citing a publicity backlash and a down graded profit outlook. darden announced that none of its full time employees will have their hours cut as a result of the new regulations. well, believe it or not you'll be seeing more starbucks cafes popping up. the coffee chain is planning to add 1,500 locations in the next five years. more are planned for canada and south america as well. and having the most watched youtube video in u.s. history sure can pay the bills. south korean pop star psi is set to make at least get this $8.1 million this year off of his hit song "gangnam style." that just is from the ads on his youtube video and sales of the

song on itunes. terrell, we've got to get some itune singing/dancing thing going on. >> you sing i'll dance. >> i'll dance, you sing. >> you daenlt want me to dance. >> i think we want that. >> ashley morrison in new york. thank you so much. in sports rack up another milestone for lakers superstar bryant. he seeks a jumper for his 30,000th career point. he's only the fifth player in nba history to do that. for the game bryant pumped in 29 points to help them take down the hornets. and a thriller in charlotte. rookie of the month, michael kidd-gilchrist put up the bobcats, but by the time time runs out, the first ever game-winner. knicks over the bobcats, 100-98. when we come back, mining grammy gold. which rising superstars took

home the most nominations last night during a special live concert. plus -- >> hello there. could i please speak to kate, please, my granddaughter? >> a prank caller gets past security with where the disturb is of cambridge is recovering from morning sickness which has no one in the royal house laughing. we sure were. [ male announcer ] with free package pickup from the u.s. postal service the holidays are easy. visit usps.com. pay, print, and have it picked up for free before december 20th for delivery in time for the holidays. you can even give us special instructions on where to find it. free package pickup. from the u.s. postal service. because it's nice to have an extra pair of hands around for the holidays. maybe you can be there; maybe you can't. when you have migraines with fifteen or more headache days a month, you miss out on your life. you may have chronic migraine. go to mychronicmigraine.com to find a headache specialist.

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washington, 46, atlanta, 58. sunny and cloudy st. louis, 58. colder with showers in denver. periods of rain in seattle. 46 degrees. get ready for big fun at the grammy awards. the nominations were announced during a special concert last night in nashville. ♪ >> that's the band fun. the indy group got best song. also those who got nominations was frank and also r & b mumford & sons. you can see the 55th annual grammy awards february 10th, 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cbs. the duchess of cambridge

remains hospitalized for morning sickness treatment. the hospital says it's reviewing telephone info after a nurse revealed information to a prank caller. we have the details from london. >> reporter: the duchess of cambridge got a hospital visit from her sister pippa and brother james. they arrived the day after a caller pretending to be the queen got through to kate's nurse. >> hello. good morning. king edward vii hospital. >> hello there. could i please speak to kate please, my granddaughter. >> reporter: the prankster fooled her way past the operator and tricked kate's nurse as well. she revealed that the duchess was being treated for severe morning sickness had not thrown up during her shift. >> she was given some fluids. she was quite dehydrated when she came in. >> reporter: the nurse said she was sleeping despite being in a strange bed. a second deejay replied, well it's no palace, is it. >> when can you take me to the

hospital, charles. >> when will it be all right to come down and see her? maybe in the morning or something if that's okay. >> i would suggest that any time after 9:00 would be suitable. >> reporter: the hospital director says he deplores the foolish prank and promises to investigation the breakdown in phone security. the call went on for several minutes, complete with the queen's fake dog barking in the background. the radio host from the australian show apologized for the hoax. they said they thought they'd be disconnected as soon as the nurse heard their terrible accents. >> that's the thing. the accents were so bad. anyway, anderson cooper a little bit later. i'm terrell brown. this is the "morning news." wn. this is the "morning news." there's no such thing as too soft. as long as it still gets the job done. i know what i like. i like feeling both clean and pampered. why should i compromise? not only is quilted northern ultra plush® the only bath tissue with plush-quilts®... it has the innerlux layer. three levels of softness and the gentle clean you want. clean comes first. and really soft is really important.

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4 minutes before 5:00 on this thursday morning. we're waking up to a beautiful half-moon over head and some frost on your car if you parked out. today it's meet roll jits tim williams in for marty and over at first warning weather. >> 31 at bwi 21 oakland 33 on the shore. the warmest reading is towards dc at 36. today going up to the mid to upper 40s under a full day of sunshine. another very cold night. your complete first warning weather forecast coming up. in the news this morning a shot fired inside the university of maryland saint joseph medical center. >> drug shortages effect another local hospital.

>> navy prepares for the clash of the titans inside a pep rally. >> more news first warning weather and your first traffic

we're coming up on 5:00 on this thursday morning. there's a lovely half-moon over head. again, if you parked outside last night you're going to find frost back on your car this morning.